Undocumented students contribute more than $10 billion in annual taxes, but the federal government refuses to grant them any federal relief aid during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of federal government intervention threatens their access to a college education and well-paid employment opportunities. This raises questions about equity that ultimately end up on states’ agendas already preoccupied with battling COVID-19.

A postsecondary education “can translate into a net benefit of hundreds of thousands of dollars over one’s lifetime.” While the passage of DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals has granted undocumented students access to better employment opportunities, DACA-recipients make up less than half of the undocumented student population. The benefits of DACA do not address the economic insecurity of non-DACA recipients, therefore exposing the limitations of current federal action and placing the future of undocumented students in the hands of states. With federal access to a guaranteed K-12 education, but not to a college education, undocumented students study, work, and live between the “extremes of legal and illegal.”

As undocumented students navigate the uncertainty associated with their legal status, states have attempted to help them attend college by offering them in-state rather than out-of-state tuition. New York is currently one of the nineteen states that have in-state resident tuition policies in effect. The price difference is significant: at City University of New York (CUNY), the out-of-state tuition rate at four-year colleges is $18,600 whereas the in-state rate is $6,930. Unfortunately, in-state resident tuition policies have shown to only minimally aid the financial costs of attending college, forcing many undocumented students to attend community colleges rather than four-year colleges due to their lower tuition rates, even if it did not form part of their academic plans.

To increase access to all higher education institutions, states have passed their own versions of the federal DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act, which failed to pass in Congress but would have granted undocumented youth a path to citizenship and federal financial aid benefits. Currently, 11 states have their own DREAM Acts, which tend to grant undocumented students access to state-funded financial aid and in-state tuition. Nonetheless, the failure of the federal DREAM Act’s passage is another, and perhaps the most notable example, of the government’s neglect and exclusion of undocumented students.

While making up 200,000 of the front-line workforce in the United States during the pandemic, undocumented students are left to struggle to cover both tuition and non-tuition related costs if they do not live in a state with its own DREAM Act. Non-tuition related costs may include and go beyond transportation, food, and housing. If these costs are not met, they may lead to food insecurity and excessive working, especially for non-DACA recipients who are forced to rely on cash-only employment, and ultimately hinder college completion levels.

Undocumented students must be on every state’s higher education reform agenda, especially as the federal government deliberately denies them any federal aid during the COVID-19 pandemic while the very universities they attend are getting up to $132.6 million. Since Congress is painstakingly slow at pushing forth another version of the DREAM Act or at including undocumented students in further stimulus talks, it is up to the states to prioritize the economic well-being of this population.

States without their own DREAM Acts should work on passing their own and those with  already existing legislation should further evaluate what needs further improvement, including access to emergency grant funds, practical-skill building programs for graduating students entering the workforce, and food security initiatives on campuses. More than ever, undocumented students must secure their right to a postsecondary education, regardless of DACA status, and the work starts at the state level.

Ismerlyn Gonzalez, a senior at Hunter College majoring in sociology with a minor in public policy, held one of two paid internships in the MDRC Judith Gueron Scholars Program this summer. While growing up in Harlem, Ismerlyn became quickly aware of the racial and socioeconomic disparities present in New York City’s education system. At Hunter, Ismerlyn coaches incoming freshmen as a Scholar Peer Leader. She is interested in pursuing a master’s degree in public policy to address inequities in education policy.